Mindee Arnett - Avalon

“Yes, they did,” Sierra said as Milton sat down again. “The ITA scientists long suspected the planet might be located somewhere in the Belgrave. They believe Empyria is the cause of the energy field as well as the strange occurrences within the quadrant.”

“You mean this invisible planet is what put those holes in Avalon and the Donerail ?” asked Jeth, glancing at the holes in his favorite armchair, now sitting pushed against the far wall.

Sierra bit her lip. “Yes, the planet’s disruption caused most of it. That disruption has been getting worse for years. The Aether Project scientists believe there’s a connection between the Pyrean sickness and the Belgrave disturbance.”

Jeth suddenly remembered how Lizzie had to keep recalibrating Avalon’ s nav when they were searching for the Donerail. Almost as if there’s some kind of massive gravity field out there that keeps pulling us toward it, she had said. A gravity field like the kind created by a planet, he realized.

“So, my parents found Empyria,” Jeth said, accepting the fact at last.

“They certainly did,” Sierra said, a note of awe in her voice.

He wondered if finding it had made his mother happy. Only the dream come true seemed to have turned into a nightmare.

“But when they returned,” Sierra continued, “they refused to tell the ITA where it was located, and they destroyed all of the ship’s records about the discovery, making it impossible for the ITA to retrace their steps. That’s where the treason charge comes into play.”

“Yes, but they didn’t execute them, right?” Jeth said.

Sierra folded her arms. “No. Your father, to my understanding, died during the arrest, an accidental shooting. And your mother, well—”

“They turned into a lab specimen,” Milton said, his expression darkening.

Jeth stared at him, torn between disbelief and cold fury. His father murdered and his mother’s death faked. And all for what? Because they’d destroyed a couple of records? He didn’t understand why his parents had done it, but they must’ve had a reason. They were idealists, sure, but not stupid or reckless. Especially not his mother. What had happened to her out there?

“Tell me about this biological change,” Jeth said.

Sierra shifted her weight from one foot to the other before answering. “Their DNA now resembles something like the Pyreans themselves. But the main measurable difference is increased cognitive abilities. The change seems to have activated a dormant region in their brains. Moreso in Cora than in your mother, but definitely true of both.”

Jeth let out the breath he’d been holding. Increased brain power didn’t seem so bad. He’d been expecting something far more drastic and scary. “So, she’s a lot smarter than she used to be. What does that matter to the ITA?”

“It matters,” said Sierra, “because Marian and Cora are now able to perceive metaspace—and manipulate it. Both of them can move objects through it in the same way the Pyreans move spaceships across the galaxy.”

Jeth’s eyes widened. “My mother can move objects through metaspace?”

“Yes. We call it phasing for lack of a better term.”

“Right,” Jeth said, deadpan.

Milton leaned forward. “It’s true. I’ve seen it.” He motioned at Sierra, his expression unaccountably stricken. “Show him file . . . file ten-dash-thirty.”

She turned toward the gaming table and accessed the data cell. A 3D image appeared on the screen, depicting a large white room, austere and sterile looking, like a hospital. On one side of the room sat an empty table. On the other was a chair with a woman sitting in it, her arms, torso, and legs strapped down.

Not just any woman, though. Mom . Jeth’s heart throbbed in his chest, and his mouth went dry as tears burned his eyes. He glanced at the timestamp on the bottom right hand side of the screen and saw this video was taken less than a year ago. She’s alive .

But she was changed. Her face was still the young, vibrant one he’d seen in her video journal, but her hair was completely white, as if it had been dyed to match the room.

On the floor in front of her stood a table the same size and shape as the one on the other side of the room. On top of the nearest table sat a red rubber ball, like the kind schoolkids play with at recess.

A man stepped into view on the screen. He wore a white lab coat and was holding an electronic tablet in one hand.

“That’s Dr. Albright,” Sierra said, pointing at the man.

Albright gave Jeth’s mother a cold stare. “Please phase the ball to the other table.”

Marian shook her head. Jeth squinted at the screen, his eyes drawn to something attached to the back of his mother’s head. With a terrible sinking feeling, he realized it was some kind of brain implant with white, spindly tentacles, nearly invisible against her hair.

Albright clucked his tongue “Come now. The more you help us learn about what’s happened to you, the sooner this will all be over.”

A horrible sneer twisted Marian’s mouth, transforming her beautiful face into something ugly. “It will never be over.”

The scientist sighed, then motioned to someone offscreen. The next moment, Jeth’s mother began to scream as her body convulsed, limbs straining against the straps.

Jeth’s fingers clenched around the sides of the armchair. “What are they doing?”

“Electro-persuasion therapy,” said Sierra, shuddering. “You’re mother was never a willing participant in these experiments.”

Jeth thought he might be sick. He realized that this wasn’t any different than the way Hammer had ordered him beaten.

Marian’s screams died a moment later. Jeth wanted to tear the self-satisfied look off Albright’s face as he said, “Are you ready now?”

Marian didn’t reply, but her eyes slipped closed. The next moment the red rubber ball disappeared from the table in front of her and reappeared across the room on the other one, the movement punctuated by bursts of bright light.

“Very good.” Albright made several notes on his tablet, then motioned to someone offscreen again. A woman in a white lab coat stepped into view and placed a square metal object on the table. Jeth thought it might be a battery of some kind.

“And again,” said Albright.

A second later the battery disappeared and reappeared. Next they had her phase a large rock so heavy it took three men to lift it onto the table. Then she phased a rat in a small cage. Then a rabbit and finally a monkey.

The monkey didn’t make it. At least, not all of it. The phase cut through its head, feet, and tail, slicing them off in a roughly circular shape and leaving them behind.

Jeth covered his mouth, revolted by the sight.

He fixed his gaze on his mother, ignoring the mangled remains of the animal. Tears streamed from Marian’s eyes, her body shaking with sobs. Like Lizzie, Marian was an animal lover. This was just another form of torture.

“Biological objects are harder to phase,” Sierra explained.

“No kidding,” said Jeth. “But why the implant?”

“It contains the same technology as the metaspace computers that communicate with the Pyreans.”

Jeth nodded, losing the ability to speak as he imagined all the suffering his mother must’ve endured these last few years. She wasn’t dead, but he didn’t know if this was any better. He resisted the impulse to finger the implant architecture in the back of his skull.

On screen, Albright ordered another monkey be brought out.

“No, I won’t do it,” his mother hissed.

The scientist engaged the electro-persuasion therapy again. Marian convulsed in pain, the torture lasting longer this time. When it stopped, she slumped against the chair, eyes closed as if unconscious.